Last Word

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Factual: Life Stories

Radio 4's weekly obituary programme, telling the life stories of those who have died recently

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Last Word: Matthew Perry, Benedict Birnberg, Field Marshall Muthoni Wa Kirima, Professor Jose Harris

Matthew Perry, Benedict Birnberg, Field Marshall Muthoni Wa Kirima, Professor Jose Harris

BBC Radio 4 - Last Word, Matthew Perry, Benedict Birnberg, Field Marshall Muthoni Wa Kirima, Professor Jose Harris

Matthew Bannister on a lawyer, a historian, a Mau Mau fighter and an actor.

Matthew Bannister on lawyer Benedict Birnberg, historian Professor Jose Harris, Mau Mau fighter Muthoni Wa Kirima and actor Matthew Perry.

Matthew Bannister on

Benedict Birnberg, the radical lawyer who fought the cases of the far-left Angry Brigade and the Mangrove Nine and got the murder conviction of Derek Bentley quashed.

Professor Jose Harris, the historian best known for her acclaimed biography of William Beveridge.

Field Marshall Muthoni Wa Kirima, the last Mau Mau fighter to lay down her arms after the rebellion against British rule in Kenya. 

Matthew Perry, the actor best known for playing Chandler Bing in the TV sitcom “Friends”.

Interviewee: Ariadne Birnberg 
Interviewee: Gareth Peirce
Interviewee: Dr Beth Rebisz
Interviewee: Professor Stuart Jones
Interviewee: Natalie Jamieson

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Archive used:
Ben Birnberg appearance on Newsnight, Derek Bentley news report, BBC Two, 30/07/1998;  Mangrove Nine, The Reunion, BBC Radio 4, 05/09/2021; King Charles speech, State Visit to Kenya, BBC News, 01/11/2023;   Mau Mau Disorders, British Pathe News, British Pathe YouTube Channel, uploaded 13/014/2013;   Interview with Muthoni Wa Kirima, MauMau Chronicles, Youtube uploaded, 09/09/2023; Muthoni Wa Kirima singing, Museum of British Colonialism, uploaded 11/01/2020; Jose Harris appearance on Thinking Aloud, BBC Two, 28/10/1984;  Sir William Beveridge talks to Pathe Gazette (1942), British Pathe YouTube Channel uploaded 13/04/2014; Jose Harris interview, Analysis : The Deserving and the Undeserving Poor, BBC Radio 4, 21/11/2010;  Friends TV Promo, IMBD; Matthew Perry interview, Q with Tom Palmer, YouTube, uploaded 22/11/2022; Matthew Perry appearance in panel discussion on Alcoholism, NewsNight, BBC Two, 16/12/2013; Matthew Perry interview, uploaded CNN, 31/05/2013;

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Matthew Perry, Benedict Birnberg, Field Marshall Muthoni Wa Kirima, Professor Jose Harris

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